Friday, September 23, 2011

Have you seen this sign on Avenue A at Third Street? Probably a good story behind it, huh?

Well, yes there is! And our friend Jen Doll at Runnin' Scared has the details. It concerns Cynthia Wright, an actress who also teaches at NYU. A cyclist clipped her while she was crossing Avenue A. She sustained multiple injuries, though was able to continue on her journey. The police on the scene made some anti-Bloomberg cycling comments. The cyclist apologized. And now that Wright, a cyclist herself, has had some time to rest and think about what happened...

Her hopes in placing the sign are that the guy, who she describes as a "handsome young hipster guy" with dark hair, helmetless, and probably in his 20s, riding a black bike with a thin frame, will see it and contact her. "It's come to me since," she said, "If I were he, I would be willing to help this person by buying her a new pair of pants, help her with having to see the osteopathic physician, and the other work."

So, if you're reading this "handsome young hipster guy," then you may have to buy some pants and what not.

6 comments:

Anonymous
said...

Having been a cyclist who witnessed this scene, this woman kept crossing the street when she was not supposed to. She went before the walk sign came on, did not look and the cyclist tried to miss her, she then made a big commotion of falling...the cyclist stopped and checked on her and stayed on the scene. I think cyclists need to be aware but so do pedestrians.

Yeah like all these mothafuckas that thing they need to stand in the street while waiting for the light. It's kind of psycho how many people do that, like what is the point? I don't have a bicycle but it is still annoying.

a) I doubt your account of what transpired. Are you sure it was the exact same incident? Would she be seeking restitution if it transpired how you recall?

b) a bicycle, like a car, is a conveyance. Its additional weight, rigid metal frame, and ability to bring you to speeds well over that of an individual on foot make you more dangerous to everyone around you. If a car was speeding and hit this woman under the same circumstances, would you blame her? The law wouldn't. It's called negligence per se. Look it up. If you break any law, and while doing so cause a harm the law was intended to prevent (i.e. hitting someone), you're at fault, period. Did the cyclist run a stop sign? Were they salmoning? Were they speeding? Were they using the bike lane?

c) While I support bicycling, and am not opposed to the existence of bike lanes, you MUST yield to pedestrians no matter what. This is New York City, the only walking city in the country. The only city where someone could live their entire life and get around using a combination of good ole' ambulating and public transportation. Jaywalking is one of the grand privileges of being a New Yorker - this isn't LA (where you can get a ticket for it) or Portland or Copenhagen (where everyone bikes and looks every which way before crossing). Yes, bumbling texting zombies are an annoyance and I don't have any sympathy for them, but don't move to this great city and then try to change its character because of the form of transportation you prefer.

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